What A Tragic Attraction
by Hollyleaf The Black Cat
Summary: They were always there to save each other from all the different monsters they'd faced over time. Now in the peaceful new world they have to save each other from a different kind of monster: loneliness. – Post Lightning Returns Ending


**Author's Note: **So this is the first HopeLight fic I've ever wrote so I'm a little worried about how good it is. This is after the ending of Lightning Returns so I guess if you haven't gotten to the end of it then there might be spoilers. I tried really hard not to make anyone too OOC but if they are then I apologize but do consider that this is supposed to be really sad and contain some of their deeper feelings and stuff. Also in the novella Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- it shows that Hope looks like his Final Fantasy XIII-2 self so I'm just assuming in the new world that he is 27 and I'm also assuming that in the new world Lightning is 21 because it doesn't look like she's changed so yeah I know that might be odd but the whole aging stuff in the games is weird anyway. Also a fun fact is that the title comes from a lyric in the Neon Trees song "Teenager in Love". Thought I'd share that. Anyway I hope you all enjoy!

**Warning:** Brief mention of sex at the end. Nothing explicit which is why I rated this T but if anyone thinks that it's too much then please tell me and I'll bump the rating up I guess.

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Hope Estheim would always be there for Lightning no matter what. He'd been with her during their time as l'Cie, during the fight with Orphan, during the literal end of the world. Just as she had saved him, it was him who saved her in the end. They were always there to save each other.

In the new world though it wasn't fal'Cie or Bhunivelze they had to save each other from; it was themselves, their emotions, their fears, their memories. It was that reoccurring nightmare, that almost complete shutdown, that feeling that no one could understand. It was that loneliness that came with never really being able to start over because they could never really forget all that had happened.

Oh course they weren't the only ones who had memories of their lives before, all their friends did and so did a few other people in the world, but Hope and Lightning had went through more than any of them in the end. There would be little things here and there that would trigger memories at different times. When it came to dealing with it Hope was better at it than Lightning. He could put on a happy mask for the most part and bear it until he was home alone to dwell on it. Lightning's way to deal with it was to become distant.

That was until she decided to give Hope a call in the middle of the night asking if he would come over and talk with her for a bit. Hope knew Lightning well enough to understand the tone in her voice was from her having just had another bad memory. He was surprised though that she wanted to talk to him though. Lightning never wanted to talk about it. She did everything she could to distant herself from any memories of it. She only wanted to be referred to as Claire. She tried to stay away from cities because they made her think of Cocoon and spent more in the countryside. She even had threw away a survival knife that Serah had got her for her 21st birthday in this world so that she'd never have to look at it and think about when everything had really started in the old world.

Hope couldn't blame her though. While he was more able to talk about most of it with others there were things that he didn't like to say too much about. He hadn't told anyone but Aoede the interviewer girl and some of his closer friends about his depression and how he would hallucinate about Lightning until he literally was on the edge of insanity. He didn't like to talk much about his parents because anytime someone would mention his mother, as she was alive in this new world, the only thing that could pass his mind was watching her fall and die in the old world. That's why he never really went home much; he couldn't look at his parents without memories of what happened to them in the old world.

When he arrives at her house she opens the door with a bottle of wine in her hand. She's not an alcoholic but as they say alcohol helps numbs the pain and when it comes to remembering the past there is plenty of that. He raises his hand in a shy wave while telling her "Hey, Light." She frowns telling him her name is Claire. He awkwardly laughs and rubs the back of his neck as he tells her that some habits are hard to break. She just shakes her head and sighs as she lets him in. When they are in she walks toward the kitchen asking if he wants anything to drink. He tells her that he can't drink yet and she gives a tiny chuckle, asking him if he remembers that he's 27 and actually older than her in this world since she's just 21. He laughs a little too as he takes a seat on her couch. Sometimes he thinks he's still that little 14 year old who loved fireworks and his mom more than anything. Sometimes he forgets he's old enough to do a lot of things that he thinks he can't.

She comes back in the living room with a glass of wine for him and the bottle still for herself. He takes a sip from it and it's sour when he first drinks it but it has a nice aftertaste so he continues to sip it as he looks over at her, waiting for her to begin talking.

She doesn't say anything though for a while and it's just them sitting and drinking. Finally she speaks up telling him that she had a nightmare where she had sacrificed herself and was all alone in the Unseen Realm. She mentions the dark emptiness and the how even in a dream she had never been so afraid and he's surprised that she's opening up to her and he wonders if the wine has anything to do with it because it's definitely making his head foggy and he wonders if it's having the same effect on her.

She continues telling him about the dream and he listens intently. Then she tells him something that makes him perk up in surprise. She says that she sometimes feels that same loneliness in this world. That's when she turns to him and asks him if he ever gets that feeling.

He doesn't know what to say at first because he can't get over how open she is being with him. He knew him and Lightning always would have this connection that would keep them intertwined in life and he's finally feeling like maybe she's embracing it. Maybe that was why he was the one she wanted to talk to at 2 am. Maybe it's because she thinks that he's probably the only one who can truly understand what she's going through.

And he is. He feels the exact same way sometimes and he tells her that. He tells her that he's felt that loneliness that comes when you feel no one else can understand your pain. But he also tells her that he feels she can understand his and he can understand hers. He tells her maybe they don't have to battle that loneliness together.

They stare at each other for a moment and maybe it's the alcohol, though neither feel out of it, or maybe it's just that understanding look in each other eyes but it only takes Lightning a moment to lean in to kiss him.

Hope had never kissed a girl before but Lightning's kiss is electric and he can't help but find himself kissing her back.

It doesn't take too long before they were in her bedroom, tangled in a mess of touches, kisses, heat, and noises that weren't totally words. It was odd but they both understood what lead them there. They both felt that emotional "touch" from each other but they wanted that physical touch to help them fight the loneliness.

Hope may have been 27 but when it came to things like this he might as well as been 14 again. There was awkwardness and a lot of blushing on his part; he was getting embarrassed because he felt like such a kid.

What made up for it though was that it made Lightning laugh. A real, happy laugh. It was like music to his ears because he knew that he'd caused it. He'd made her smile. Maybe for a moment he'd made her forget what that had caused her to bring him over that night.

In that moment nothing else exists. There was neither a past to dwell on nor a future to hope for. It was just the present and that was all they needed.

That night is the best sleep either of them had ever had. There are no nightmares, no dreams, just an emptiness in their minds and they'll take it for now.

Surprisingly, Hope is the first one awake the next morning. He looks beside him and notices Lightning was laying there facing him, looking more at peace than he had ever seen. Her hair is on her cheek and he wants to reach over and knock it off but he feels that if he did this moment would shatter and her peace would shatter and he just can't do that.

He glances over at the clock by her bed. _10 am._ He's missed work and he knows his boss will be pissed but it doesn't matter. He's just surprised they'd slept in so late. Lightning was usually up at about 7 on the dot, probably part of her military training with the Guardian Corps sticking with her. But the Guardian Corps didn't exist here and she has no reason to be up early if she doesn't want to and he hopes maybe this could be the start of them finally living their lives in the new world like they should be lived. He rolls back over to look at her and smiles softly.

Their demons will never truly be defeated but they can live with that because so long as they battle it together they can at least make it through another day.

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Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! ;D


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